The Portrait by Aldous Huxley- An Analysis

The Portrait

 by Aldous Huxley

Introduction

Aldous Huxley is one of the most brilliant writers in English literature. He is a well-known contemporary novelist, who is particularly noted for his satire and humanism. The structure of the story “The Portrait” is very interesting. It is a story within a story. Both stories have much in common.

The Outside Story

The outside story is devoted to a prosaic affair. In it, the Lord of the Manor visits the shop of Mr. Bigger to buy old paintings for his newly constructed house. He wants to spend money on the works of the great masters like Rembrandt and Joshua Reynolds. Mr. Bigger understands the interests of the customer and weaves his own story of Lord Hurtmore to sell the portrait of Lady Hurtmore. Finally, he manages to sell the portrait for six hundred and eighty pounds whereas he pays only twenty five pounds to Cowley who painted the portrait.

The Story within the Story

The inside story is about the romantic love of a young wife and an artist. In it, Lady Hurtmore lives with her aged husband who is a lover of art and music. She marries him because of his money. He wants the portrait of his beautiful wife for which he employs Giangolini. The young age of the artist and the Lady and the absence of her husband draw them each other. They plan to elope with the jewels of Hurtmore to some other place. Lord Hurtmore catches them red handed and returns home with the jewel box leaving the wife in the artist’s studio itself. Lady Hurtmore  realizes that she cannot lead a happy life with the poor artist and returns to her husband.

Themes

In both stories the author shows that money influences the life of people greatly. The themes of “The Portrait” are love and money, art and money and commercialization of art. For example, Mr. Bigger tells lots of lies in order to sell his painting. Lord of the Manor is ready to spend money for the sake of pride. Lady Hurtmore keeps changing her decisions about life because of money. On the other hand a young artist is exploited for the sake of money. Hence the influence of money is clearly illustrated in this story.